Kevin Durant and Hassan Whiteside (Photo : NBAE via Getty Images)
The Miami Heat was almost written off the Hassan Whiteside derby when their newly anointed star center demanded a max contract.
While he admits that the Miami Heat gave him a chance as most of the teams (including the ones pursuing him now) refused, in his own words, "loyalty is not the factor."
"I really don't think it's about loyalty," read Whiteside's statements posted on June 26 by the Sun Sentinel. "I think it's just about the best situation for myself and that's what I think it is."
By this time, Whiteside already said he had a meeting with Pat Riley and it "went well" but he could not say that the Heat has locked him up. He actually described his options as "wide open."
"It's just a couple of variations: How will I fit with the team? How they utilize the offense and defense and just different things like that. And living. There's a lot that goes into it," Whiteside added.
Gathering these and all his other statements led to one conclusion-Whiteside would prefer to stay with the Heat but he also needed the max money.
Fast forward to the first day of free agency and Whiteside has confirmed that he will re-sign with the Miami Heat.
This news built up the reputation that Riley is up to his "Godfather" tricks again, doing what most pundits thought was impossible. The question now, how does Whiteside signing a max deal, reportedly worth four year, $ 98 million affect the Miami Heat's pursuit of Kevin Durant.
SB Nation illustrated how difficult the cap situation is for the Heat to re-sign Whiteside at the max, also keep Dwyane Wade and still manage to convince Durant to sign with them (probably not a max deal anymore-which seems impossible in itself).
"The Heat have $50.9 million on the books next season -- which means they have a little over $40 million to reach the projected $94 million cap." Whiteside already takes up $ 22 million of that with his max deal. They will have $ 22 million left for BOTH Wade and Durant.
With that, Riley will probably bite off more than he can chew, but he will take the meeting for Durant. And meeting with Riley has weird outcomes.
Still it's not 100%--even when Riley chased LeBron James for another meeting two summers ago, it did not stop the King from returning home and eventually, win a title.
This may be another one of those rare times Riley doesn't get his way but securing Whiteside was a coup in itself.
